Assessing paediatric blood culture quality: surveys of clinician and laboratory practices in Australia and New Zealand.

Paediatric blood cultures are vital for the diagnosis of paediatric bloodstream infections. Quality of paediatric blood culture collection, processing and reporting depend on multiple factors, with a paucity of literature describing these in practice. We conducted separate surveys of clinicians and laboratory staff to assess quality standards and knowledge related to paediatric blood culture collection, analysis, and interpretation to identify improvement opportunities.

Clinical laboratory evaluation of the Hologic Panther Aptima BV and CV/TV assays for the diagnosis of vaginitis in Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Vaginitis presentations are common, but traditional diagnostic methods are imperfect. Molecular methods for bacterial vaginosis (BV) and vulvovaginal candidiasis (CV) are increasingly available but not commonly utilized in Aotearoa New Zealand. We evaluated the Hologic Aptima BV and CV/ (TV) assays against our current methods (Gram stain, yeast culture, and Hologic Aptima TV assay) and performed a retrospective BV clinical audit.

Genomic epidemiology of mecC-carrying Staphylococcus aureus isolates from human clinical cases in New Zealand.

In 2011, a novel methicillin resistance gene, , was described in human and bovine isolates. positive is most commonly associated with livestock and wildlife populations across Europe and is particularly prevalent in hedgehogs, but only occasionally causes human infections. In this study, we characterize and investigate the origin of two human isolates containing genes from New Zealand.

Update on methods used for mycological testing: wide diversity and opportunities for improvement persist.

Past analysis of laboratory methods used for mycology specimens revealed significant variation in practices, many of which fell short of recommended procedures. In 2016 these findings led to a set of recommendations for laboratories to consider modification of their methods where appropriate, to analyse current laboratory methods used by participants in the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP) Mycology module, and to compare these to the 2016 recommendations. Seven test items, with 105-107 participants each, were analysed.